Jocelynn Drake - Wait for Dusk

Shoving off the divan, I stalked across the bathing room, my heels clicking ominously in the growing silence. Valerio and Stefan had stopped in the middle of tearing apart a nightwalker and stepped back as I approached the crowd. I heedlessly stepped among them and grabbed Nick by the arms. Slamming him against the wall, I grinned as his head hit the tile drywall with enough force to crack and dent it.

“You have no business here. I will handle it,” I growled in a low voice.

“That’s not enough and you know it,” he taunted, referring to my little jolt of power with Danaus’s. The muscles in my chest constricted and a knot formed in my stomach.

“I doubt it ever will be.”

“You’re going to have to try harder than that my—”

I cut off his words by pitching him through the thick wall of flames that encircled the pool. There was a loud splash and an ominous thud that was muffled by the water as he hit the bottom of the pool. I clenched my teeth and started to walk back toward the divan when I heard a slap of flesh against concrete. I turned to find Nick climbing back out of the pool, stepping through the flames as if they weren’t even there.

I stood there like the rest of them, frozen in shock. Everyone naturally assumed that he was a nightwalker and had just succeeded in crossing through the flames twice without even getting singed. Nick took advantage of my shock. He rushed me, closing the distance between us in a flash. He slammed me into the wall with enough force that I nearly went through the first layer of the wall to the brick exterior. I grunted and my vision blurred.

Still dazed, I looked up at him with a smile. At the same time, I slammed my fist into his chest and pulled his heart free. He took a couple stumbling steps backward and shook his head at me. I knew it wouldn’t kill him. If he truly was a god, I didn’t think there was a way to kill him. However, he was kind enough to oblige me this small thing so that too many questions weren’t asked about his odd presence.

“I’ll be watching,” he promised just before he was engulfed in flames not of my making. His whole body and the heart in my hand crumpled to ash in a matter of seconds, wiping away his existence, but not his frightening memory. He was watching me, waiting for me to perform my tasks like a good little puppet.

“We’re out of here,” I snapped, turning back toward the divan. I grabbed my coat from the divan and jerked it on, while Valerio and Stefan joined me. A touch on my cheek from Valerio caused me to still, my nerves easing back to some semblance of peace and control. Nick had rattled me, but Valerio had succeeded in giving me back a little bit of my peace again.

“Did you enjoy tonight’s amusements?” he asked.

“Yes, you and Stefan were stunning. As always.”

Valerio bowed his head to me and then leaned in and pressed a kiss to the vein on my jugular, leaving behind a smear of blood. Stefan followed tradition, but went for a less intimate location. He gently took my right hand and pressed a kiss to my vulnerable wrist where my pulse would have been. The bloody marks were signs of approval on my part of their performance in tonight’s games. If I had not approved of their work, I would not have allowed them to touch me.

As we walked past the remaining nightwalkers, I spared Odelia a quick glance. “See to it that this mess is properly cleaned up before the dawn.” We then continued back out into the cold Budapest night where Danaus was patiently waiting for us.

“Sounds like you had a good time,” he said as he wiped the blood off one of his long knives. Two lycanthrope bodies lay at his feet, massive cuts stretching from deep in their stomachs to their throats. In a couple quick moves the hunter had gutted both of his attackers.

“Looks like you had a little fun yourself,” Valerio said appreciatively as he nudged one of the dead with the toe of his shoe.

“They tried to get back inside after they left. No invitation. No entrance.” Danaus shrugged his shoulders and I could see a smile toying with the corner of his mouth.

“So are you going to tell us who the mystery man was?” Valerio inquired, pinning me with a direct gaze. My companions had been kind enough to wait until we left the main bath. Otherwise, it might have raised too many questions in front of Odelia and the others. I shoved a trembling hand through my hair, pushing it out of my face as I struggled to come up with a viable excuse. I didn’t know anyone in Budapest, hadn’t been to the city in ages. I shouldn’t have been able to make such a comment, but Nick was hanging about, causing problems in my life.

“He’s no one important,” I grumbled, keeping my gaze straight ahead.

“I thought you didn’t know anyone in Budapest,” Stefan countered, stepping directly in front of me so I was forced to look at him.

“I don’t. At least, no one of consequence,” I snapped, quickly sweeping past him.

“What was he referring to?” Valerio prodded.

“Not your concern. It has nothing to do with this matter that has brought us to Budapest. It’s something personal.”

“Is it going to interfere with our investigation?” Stefan demanded.

“No.”

I felt confident that I could conclude this investigation into Budapest without worrying about Nick, but I was also confident that he was going to interfere with the rest of my life. I had gotten my first taste of true power when I tapped into Danaus’s abilities. Nick and I were both sure that I wouldn’t be able to resist using him yet again, particularly if my life was on the line. For now, I was at his mercy, but I would find a way to escape these bonds even as I found a way to escape Jabari and Danaus.

Valerio and Stefan stood under the lamplight in front of me, their hands buried in their pockets as a brisk wind swept through the park. Danaus remained a silent shadow just behind my shoulder, gazing down on me and the lies that I was carefully weaving for all those who would listen. I needed to find a way to escape my Nick conundrum before it got someone killed. Unfortunately, it wasn’t my most pressing problem at the moment.

“If we’re here to eliminate the naturi, I don’t understand why we don’t just hunt them down and destroy them,” Valerio said, pulling the two sides of his open coat more tightly around his body. His brown hair fluttered a bit in the wind while his eyes teared up in the cold.

“We have more to do here than deal with the naturi,” Stefan declared, standing stiff and tall, as if unaffected by the growing cold, which I truly doubted. Valerio was starting to look cold, and I knew that the nightwalker was older than Stefan. Old age didn’t allow you to be completely immune to the elements, no matter how he wished to appear impervious.

“So I gathered,” I murmured. “Macaire would not have sent me here unless he had other thoughts in mind. The naturi are a concern, but it doesn’t sound like they are the reason why there are no Ancients within the city. That is what concerns me. Where have all the nightwalkers gone?”

“Maybe you should ask your consort,” Stefan suggested, turning his narrowed gaze on Danaus.

“I’ve not visited here in several centuries,” Danaus replied sharply, taking one step closer to Stefan. “I’ve hunted no nightwalkers within the city limits.” The Ancient nightwalker also took a step closer, trapping me between them. I pressed one hand against Stefan’s chest, while shoving my shoulder into Danaus’s chest, keeping the two separated before I got squished between them.

“Enough!” I said, raising my voice. “Themis and Danaus are not responsible for the slaughter of Ancients and you know it, Stefan. Killing off Ancients isn’t that easy. I suspect either Macaire’s been cleaning out the territory for his own private use, or somehow this Veyron has found an effective way to kill them so he can take over the domain.”